Coloring-machine for moving-picture films.



M. VANDAL. COLORING MACHINE FOR MOVING PICTURE FILMS,

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 71 IBIZ- v LQQ6,282 Patented May1o,1917.

3 SHEET5SHEET I.

WrrNEssEs m s a TV M f Nm m o M. VANDAL. COLORING MACHINE FOR MOVlNG PICTURE FILMS.

" Patented May15,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 39"? INVENTOR Marcel Vandal WITNESSES IVI. VANDAL. COLORING MACHINE [OR MOVING PICTURE FILMS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7. I912- Patented May 15, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR Marcel VandqlI BY ATTORNEYS WITNESSES MARCEL VANDAL, 0F PARIS,

FRANCE.

CQLORING-IVIACHIN FOR MOVING-PICTURE FILMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 115, 191% Application filed June 7, 1912. Serial No. 702,331.

7 '5; all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARCEL VANDAL, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at 8 Rue Saint-Augustin, 'Paris, in the Republic of France, engineer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Color ing-Machines for Moving-Picture Films, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a coloring machine for moving-picture films, in which the color is applied, in a well-known manner, bymeans of brushes and of openings in a positive film, the contours of such openings corresponding with those of the parts to be colored.

My invention has been provided for the purpose of doing entirely away with handwork in the application of the color, of giving great regularity to the turning out a very great deal of work.

Among the difficulties heretofore found in the use of such machines, the greatest ones come in a satisfactory manner in similar machines contemplated heretofore.

On the other hand, the said difficulties are quite eliminated in the machine according to this invention by the use of a device for carrying forward the picture film and keeping the same in register with its such device compensating for the slight and unavoidable irregularities of their perforations; of a system of brushes having particular movements which do away with White spots and dribbles whatever the speed may be; and of an inking device with the brushes.

The essential arrangements of my machine will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying draw- 1ngs2- Figure l is a side elevation of the machine, some parts being removed or broken away for the purpose of greater clearness,

Fig. dis a bottom plan View of a swinging plate carrying the system of brushes.

ig. 3 is a front elevation of the machine; and

coloring, and of,

removed. The result of such gig. 4 shows the details of a guiding disk.

and 3, in conmaintained by pressure rollers 7 and 8, the springs of which are not shown.

The drum 2 is loosely mounted; yieldingly in contact with the film of a leather buffer 9 b its ends; such buffer is carried by a flat spring 10, the tension of which can be adjusted by means of a screw 11. On the other hand, the drum 3 is actuated mechanically; its spindle or shaft carries a worm wheel 12, (Fig. 1), meshing with a worm 13 having a continuous rotary motion. So the drum 3 acts as a carrier and the drum 2 acts as a stretcher of the film; this allows of keeping the film under tension in an adjustable manner during its passage on the table 4.

Underneath the table are located two studs 4 on each of which are loosely mounted two toothed disks 15 designed to insure the it is kept by means earing against one of 15 pass freely into openings of the table and mesh with the perforations of both the films. Such teeth are of a special shape, shown in Fig. 4; the section of each tooth, perpendicularly to the axis of the disk, is ogive; in the plane passing through the axis, the section is rectangular, the angles at the apex being rounded off and the width being equal to that of the perforations of the film; the base of the tooth is of the same shape as the said perforations, that is to say the form of a circle two opposite segments of which have been peculiar shape is that in coming into engagement with the teeth of the disks, those portions of the two films comprised between the said disks are centered exactly on one another, while such disks, by reason of their freedom, are enabled to move independently of one another 1 1n lending themselves to the slight variations of the space between the perforations both as to width and length, and particularly to the defects of the symmetry of their positions with respect to the axis of the strips.

p on one end of each It is to be noted that in such a system the film 5 carries forward the loosely mounted disks and the latter, in turn, carry forward the open-work film causing the latter to place itself exactly on the top of the color film at the four points where the teeth of the disks mesh with the perforations in the films and, consequently, in the whole of the portion comprised between such points.

The differences of the space between the holes in the longitudinal direction are generally of no importance and are compensated for by the tension under which both the films are continuously put between the disks 15.

In the direction of the width, the differences are greater; easily changeable disks will be employed and of which the teeth will have a width equal to half the difference between the largest and smallest distance between the edges of the holes (largest for the open-work film and smallest for the film to be colored) the errors will thus be reduced to a minimum and equally divided between the two sides.

In any case, the guidingmark of the pictures will be exactly at the center of the latter, which is the main point.

The edges of both the films pass under metal rulers 16 which hold the same lightly on the table 4.

The coloring is effected by means of two brushes 17 and 18 upright and extending perpendicularly to the movement of the strips 5 and 6, and of two inking tapes 19 and 20 which move parallel to such strips on the lateral extensions of the table 4.

The brushes receive circular movements in inverse directions so that the distance between their longitudinal axes remain always the same. Such motion can be very easily obtained as shown in the drawing. Each brush is secured to a metal plate 22 provided with a central boss 23 which in turn is secured to a rod 24L parallel to the brush; rod 24 is secured a block 25 which is provided with a hole for the passage of the other rod; both the brushes are thus guided parallel to each other and are held always at the same distance from one another. Each of the blocks is pivoted to a wrist pin 26 and the pins 26 are carried by two-gear wheels 27 mounted on a plate 28; both the gear wheels are connected together by two intermediate pinions 29 so that they can only revolve in inverse directions and always at the same speeds. In the embodiment shown, the wrist pins 26 are placed symmetrically with respect to the perpendicular m-w drawn from the line of the centers of the wheels at the middle on such line. All the points of the brushes 17 and 18 and of all the members 22, 23, 24, 25, which are connected therewith, are thus caused to describe circles equal to the circles symmetrically directed by the pins 26 and the brushes are always kept in the same direction. However, the invention is not limited to such peculiar motion; for instance, one of the pins 26 able to make the brushes swing while being circularly revolved so that the different points of the brushes will describe irregular curves, of 8 or other suitable shapes.

One of the wheels 27 is operated by means of a pulley 30 driven by a round belt 31 which also drives the worm 13 in passing around a pulley 32' cooperating with the said worm, the belt ated by an electric motor located underneath the machine and passes around the rollers 33 and 34:, and the pulleys 30 and 32, as shown in the drawings. As the plate 28 carrying the brushes is hinged on the spindle of the rollers 34-, the control is so arranged that, by merely raising the said plate, the strips 5 and 6 can be uncovered, the brushes can be inspected, and the belt can be slackened, thus stopping the machine at once.

When the plate 28 is lowered and held in I such position by a spring latch (not shown) which acts on the member 35, the brushes are pressed on to the openings of the positive film and on to the inking tapes 19 and 20. By reason of their circular motion, the said brushes take the color from the tapes and discharge the same on to the film to be colored through the said openings. The speed of the rotation of the Wheels 27 is such that the brushes make several circular movements, four for instance, while the drum 3 advances the film to the height of a picture; whereby as the film is being moved the direction of the passage of the bristles of the brush at a determined point of such film changes continuously and such direction is suddenly reversed several times by reason of the inverse movements'of' the two brushes. Such repeated changes of direction have the effect of" spreading the color into all the openings of the positive film, however 1rregular may be the contours of such openings. Again, the continual reciprocation of the brushes on both the lateral tapes and on the open-work film has the effect of feeding the color equally on both sides and of securing the absolute uniformity of-the tints deposited. It is to be noted that when the half of a brush passes on to the picture, the other half is taking the color from one of the tapes, and that then the first half takes the color from the other tape while the second half will pass in turn on to the picture; the other brush which-moves in the inverse direction operates in the same manner. Ihe large number of alternative passages on to the strips and tapes allows of charging and discharging each time only a very small amount of color, which tends to avoid dribblings. The latter are also avoided on acmay be made movbeing spreferably opera count of the tension of the strips, the continpart to the brushes both opposite reciprocauous pressure on the brushes and of the extory movements and a general circular act register of the open-work film with the movement in the plane parallel to the table. film to be colored by means of the disks 15, 2. In a coloring machine for films, the which cooperate in maintaining the edges of film to be colored and the openwork film the openings always on the film to be colored. having the usual perforations, the combinahe color tapes 19 and 20 pass around the tion of a table, a pair of spaced drums bedrums 36 located at both sides of the parts tween which the films are extended over 21 of the table and around the drums 37 the table, two axes parallel to the table bewhich dip into color containers 38; they are tween the said drums, four toothed disks stretched by stretching rollers 39. The mounted in pairs on the said axes and of drums 37 are secured on the sameshaft and which the teeth are adapted to engage in driven by a ratchet wheel 40 and a lever havthe perforations of the films, all of said ing a pawl 41 which is connected by a link 42 disks being loosely mounted in their said with a rocker arm 43,- the latter is operated axes so as to slide and rotate upon their by means of an arm 44 and a wheel 45 having said axes separate from one another.

lateral pins which is secured to the shaft of 3. In a coloring machine for films, the the wheel 12 and the drum 3. A spring 46, combination of a table having guiding acting for instance on the link 42, holds the means for guiding a film and an open-work arm 44, by means of an inclined plane 47, film, the latter film on the top of the former against the pins of the wheel 45. During one, a. main frame supporting such table, the rotation of the latter the pins push and a plate hinged on the table, rotary plates leave successively the arm 44 so that the mounted on the said plate, movable brushes pawl lever 41 moves back and forth and ad carried by such plates, a grooved pulley vances the drums 37 and hence the tapes 19 mounted on the said plate and adapted to 30 and 20 intermittently. Such forward moverevolve or turn such plates, grooved rollers ment can be adjusted by modifying the mounted on the main frame, and an endswing of the arm 44, as for instance by less cable passing around the said rollers means of a spiral way, an abutting screw, or and around the pulley to drive the pulley, the like; the amount of color fed to the the position of the pulley and of the rollers brushes can thus be regulated according to being such that the cable is taut when the requirements. plate is horizontal and slackened when the It must be understood that the above delatter is upright.

scribed embodiment is only given by way of 4. In a coloring machine for films, the example and that without departing from combination of means for supporting and so the lIlVeIltlOIl all the structural arrangemoving the films to be colored, an endless ments may be modified, for instance, the inking or coloring tape, drums around number of the brushes may be varied, and which the said tape passes, a color container the driving mechanism may be replaced by in which one of the said drums is partly any other mechanism adapted to give the submerged, means connected to the means same the desired circular motions with or for moving the films and arranged for imwithout any transverse swinging, as also the parting a forward movement to the tape,

device for advancing the color tapes which color brushes so arranged as to take the color may be replaced by any equivalent device. from the tap and apply it to the films, and

Claims: means whereby to impart to the brushes too 1. A coloring machine for films comprisboth opposite reciprocatory movements and ing a table, means for guiding in a straight a general circular movement.

line on the said table a film and an open- In testimony that I claim the foregoing work coloring film, the latter film being on a my invention I have signed my name in the top of the former 0Ii(1%,1lI1klI1 or cpllorfpresence of two subscribing wltnesses.

in tapes arranged para e to t e pat 0 th? film, on both sides of such path, brushes MARCEL A located above the table, and so arranged as to Witnesses convey the colors from the tapes to the Loom MEMMINGER,

open-work film, and means whereby to im- Mention Roox. 

